Pop star Justin Bieber has broken his silence amid speculation on social media that he was a victim of Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Diddy is currently on trial in New York on federal charges of sex trafficking.
A representative for Bieber told TMZ on Thursday: “Although Justin is not among Sean Combs’ victims, there are individuals who were genuinely harmed by him.”
They continued: “Shifting focus away from this reality detracts from the justice these victims rightfully deserve.”
Speculation swirled online as videos of joint appearances by the pair resurfaced from when Bieber was still a teenager, some fifteen years ago, that included allusions to sexual acts.
Sources told TMZ that these public appearances were “performative,” and that there was no relationship with Diddy, though he was friends with the hip-hop mogul’s sons.
The outlet says the sources stated that Diddy never sexually or otherwise abused Bieber.
In one clip from an appearance by the pair on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2011, Diddy said that Bieber “knows better than to be talking about things that he does with Big Brother Puff on national television.”
In 2009, in a video in which they were seen spending time together, they are seen outside a house, standing by a car. Diddy then said: “As soon as you turn 16, I'm gonna let you rock this car.”
The rapper also said he couldn’t disclose where they were or what they were doing, but that it was a “15-year-old's dream.”
He added: “For the next 48 hours, he's with me and we're gonna go buck full crazy.”
Today in court in New York, Diddy’s former girlfriend, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, sat for day one of cross-examination following bombshell testimony accusing the music mogul of rape, blackmail, sexual degradation and physical abuse.
Combs’s defense attorney Anna Estevao ended the day by showing the jury explicit text messages between Ventura and Combs in March 2016.
The pair were planning a “freak off” — one of the sex parties at the center of the case — which led up to an alleged assault at an InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles. Footage of the 2016 incident, which was released publicly last year, shows Combs hitting and kicking Ventura.
Ventura previously testified she went along with “freak offs” throughout their relationship because she was afraid the rapper would hurt her or release footage from the encounters. “Freak offs” involved Ventura having sex with other men at Combs’s direction, typically while taking drugs, she said.
Combs faces charges of sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy. He was arrested in September 2024 as federal authorities alleged he threatened, abused, and coerced victims “to fulfill his sexual desires” between 2004 and 2024.
Combs has denied any accusations of wrongdoing.
